Chicken Lavash Soup Recipe (Tortilla Lime Soup)

As a child, Maman would always tell us kids not waste food; it's "tội chết" ("dreadfully sinful" in Vietnamese). Now that I'm an adult, I intend to follow in her footsteps and teach the same values to our future children. Whenever there are left-overs, I try to come up with creative ways to use them. Today, I had left-over chicken broth and roasted chicken, so I combined them to make a hearty chicken soup. I had whole wheat lavash on hand, so I decided to slice it into strips and use it as I would when making tortilla soup. The lavash also made a good thickening agent in the soup.

To the large pot of soup, I added left-over shredded roasted chicken, tomatoes, tomato paste for a little tartness, jalapeños for a little heat, lime juice, cumin, avocado and some edamame beans for texture. The lavash soup is a hearty, tasty dish that makes a complete meal that's a hit even with the kids. Well, at least the non-vegetarian kids in my house!

Directions

Stack the sheets of lavash. Cut into ¼-inch strips. Place on a greased baking sheet, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of oil and bake for 10 minutes until crispy. Reserve a few strips for garnish.

Making the broth:

In a blender, place the diced tomatoes and jalapeños. Add a little vegetable broth for a smooth flow. Set aside.

In a pot, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Add the onions and cumin. Cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the blended tomatoes and chiles, tomato paste and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 20 minutes.

Assembly time:

Drizzle the avocados with 2 tablespoons of lime juice to prevent oxidation. Set aside.

In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the enoki mushrooms, edamame beans and red chili powder. Cook for an additional minute. Transfer the mushrooms and vegetables to the hot broth. Finish with the shredded chicken and the remaining lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Note: This step is optional; I like to thicken the broth a bit. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with ¼ to ½ cup of water. Bring the soup to a boil, then add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly. Add the lavash strips. Turn off the heat. Stir well.

Ladle the soup into 6 warmed bowls.

Add a little bit of avocado into the center of each bowl. Sprinkle the reserved lavash strips over the top of each bowl and garnish with cilantro.

Serve immediately.

Bon appétit!

Tips

If you like your soup spicier, you can add 1 or 2 roasted, seeded, finely diced jalapeños in addition to the canned jalapeños. I'm not sure if the canned jalapeños were a bit weak, but next time we might add two roasted jalapeños to the broth to give it a bit more kick.

I used whole grain California lavash bread.

Enoki are very thin, long white mushrooms that are widely used in Asian cuisine. I also use them for making Vietnamese crêpes called banh xeo. You could use other mushrooms and vegetables.

For a veggie version, you could serve vegetarian broth with only tofu (instead of shredded chicken) if you prefer.

If you want to make sure the diced avocado remains green, just drizzle a little lime juice over it before serving. You could also garnish the soup with guacamole if you like.